Kiss Me, I'm Irish
by LilyPrincess
Summary: All Lily wants to do it get though this day in one peice. All James wants to do is finally make the girl of his dreams his....
1. The History of Lily's Misfortune

            Luck is a tricky thing. One person has a good day and they automatically assume it's out of pure luck. Get a good mark on an exam, a surprise Hogsmeade trip, or maybe someone suddenly asks you out…to some, it's all luck. 

            For Lily Evans, current Head girl at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, the word 'luck' meant nothing in her life. Coming from Irish ancestry, along with her curly mop of trademark red hair and startling green eyes, she was often mistaken by her classmates to celebrate her most hated day of the year. March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. It's not as if she always hated this small holiday, no sir. As a child, she _loved_ the day. Every year she made sure to wear green just in case some dumb kid from her elementary school didn't know she was Irish and would pinch her. 

            This bitter hatred for the day fell into her heart for more than one reason. It all started the year she started to attend Hogwarts. When she was a 1st year on that day, she received a letter from her parents saying that her beloved dog, Lucky, was hit by a truck yesterday and had passed on. Of course she grieved greatly, but the next year, she was still looking forward to that special day, only to find out that widespread confusion had swept through the wizarding world as a new Dark wizard started drawing power. 3rd year St. Patrick's Day, Peeves and the Marauders chose to throw a huge prankfest on her and her best mate Elizabeth. 4th year, she received a letter from her Aunt Evelyn saying her parents died in a tragic car crash. 

            She was beginning to sense quite a pattern.

            Fifth year St. Patrick's Day, she mustered up enough courage to ask her secret crush, Devon, a sixth year Ravenclaw, to accompany her to Hogsmeade. Not only did he flat out refuse, he started laughing and drawing everyone's attention to them in the Great Hall. Needless to say the Slytherians had a field day with _that_ one. To make matters worse that day, James Potter, a fellow Gryffindor fifth year, seemed to have developed quite a liking to her.

            By sixth year, Lily was quite ready to lock herself up in the sixth year girl's dormitory for the entire day. Unfortunately, fate had conjured up another sadistic plot for her that year. That day, her friend Elizabeth and another roommate she was close to, Rebecca, received letters from both their parents saying they would be pulled out of Hogwarts due to fear of the rising Dark power of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. They were to be taught from home now.

            That brings us to Lily's seventh and final year. The last St. Patrick's Day from Hell she'd ever have to endure at Hogwarts. 

            A/N- Hello everyone!!!!!! I hope you enjoyed this tiny chapter. This will be just a tiny ficlet to help me get motivated to write my next chapter for Is It Really You? All those fans of that fic, don't worry, I've wrote some of it and will have it out soon hopefully. Review and tell me what you think. I'll update probably tomorrow.


	2. Paranoia

            "I'm serious, Prongs! If you don't get a _bloody_ grip, I'm going to have to bloody well _kick your arse._" snapped Sirius Black as he lounged lazily on a plush couch in front of the Gryffindor common room fire.

            "Tut, tut. Language, Padfoot." replied James Potter distractedly as he flip the page of the book he was scanning on the floor in front of Sirius.

             "I still think you're going about this all wrong." muttered Remus Lupin as he too flipped a page from a novel he was reading.

            "Well, what else am I supposed to do, Moony?" exclaimed James, "I'm running out of ideas."

            "Look, Prongs, you did what you set out for this year," said Sirius, looking over at him, "You've gotten Lily to realize you're not a total git-,"

            "Yes, but she still doesn't think of me the way I want her to." interrupted James matter-of-factly.

            "I agree. But you've tried everything in that book and nothing's worked, has it?" Remus pointed out, motioning towards the title of James' book, How to Get the Love of Your Life to Fall for You.  

            "Well, Prongs, you never know. Tomorrow's the luckiest day out of the year, anything can happen…even Evans falling in love with you." snickered Sirius. That thought was so absurd he just had to laugh. 

            James scowled at Sirius. He slammed his book shut and rubbed his tired eyes. "I'll think of something else," he muttered, standing up, "I'm off to bed. G'night all."

            Sirius and Remus murmured their replies, Remus going back to his book, Sirius closing his eyes idly.

            "Where's Wormtail?" asked Sirius after a few moments of silence.

            "I think he went up to bed." answered Remus, deeply absorbed in the story.

            ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Lily, put out your candle. I can't sleep." snapped a black haired girl, one of Lily's roommates, sticking her head out of her curtains.

             Lily rolled her eyes from her bed, not even glancing up when she said through gritted teeth, her Irish accent evident, "Bugger off, Adrian. Close your curtains and you won't have any problems."

            "_Don't_ tell _me_ to bugger off, Evans!" Adrian's shrill tone rang out across their dormitory. 

            "Evans! Adrian! _Do_ shut up! It's 11:00 at night. I'd like to get some sleep before morning approaches!" snapped another one of Lily's roommates, Susan.

            "She's the leech who started it!" Adrian pointed a finger over in Lily's direction.

            "_Who_ are yeh callin' a leech!?" retorted Lily, flinging her arms down by her sides with sudden fury. Her accent always got heavier when she was filled with rage.

            "You! I'm calling _you_ a leech!" screeched Adrian. 

            "A' least I'm not a snooty little _wench_!"

            "Watch it, Evans," said Trisha, the last and final roommate of Lily's, and who also happened to be Adrian's best mate.

"I'm not a wench! You're the one up at 11:00 at night with the lights on so people can't sleep!" said Adrian in a whiny, yet angry voice.

            "Well pardon me, but I frankly don't feel like _dying_ while I'm asleep!" exclaimed Lily dramatically.

            All the other girls promptly groaned simultaneously. 

            "Oh gods!" exclaimed Trisha, rolling her eyes the same time she rolled to her side to face Lily.

            "Will you just let this obsession with the-world-is-out-to-get-you-on-St.-Patrick's-Day die already?!" groaned Susan. 

            "The world does _not_ revolve around you, Evans. There can't be one day out of the year devoted to making your life a living Hell." put in Adrian.

            "It's true!" exclaimed Lily stubbornly. "I've given you the proof! Every year on that day, _something_ terrible has to happen to me!"

            "Whatever!" screeched Susan, her American accent always shown brilliantly when she was ticked off. "Look, all three of you, just _shut up and go to sleep!_"

            Lily slammed her book shut, causing Susan to growl angrily but not say anything. 

            "_I'm _goin' to the Head's tower." Lily announced, grabbing her robe and book.

            "Good riddance!" came Adrian's immediate reply.

            Lily bent down and blew out her candle right before she stuck her nose up in the air and stumbled out of the room.

            ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Lily huffed and muttered to herself all the way down the stairs. 

'They just don't get it.' was the words Remus Lupin and Sirius Black heard from their positions at the fireplace. Lily had yet to notice them as she advanced closer and closer to the portrait hole.

            "_Who_ just don't get _what_?" questioned Sirius suddenly, making Lily jump in surprise. 

            "Blimy, Sirius!" she breathed out. 

            "Where are you going, Lily?" asked Remus, turning around in his chair to face her.

            Lily did a double take on him, equally surprised as she had been with Sirius. "I'm going to the Head's tower." she stated matter-of-factly.

            "Why?" Sirius asked with an eyebrow raised.

            "Because, me bothersome roommates canno' stand the fact tha' I'm not goin' to sleep tonigh'." answered Lily somewhat angrily. 

            Remus and Sirius exchanged looks before Remus asked, "Why aren't you sleeping tonight?"

            "Because, if I fall asleep tonigh', I just _know_ something is going to happen to me this time!"

            "This time?" asked Sirius, confused.

            "Yes, _this time_! Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. All the years before this it was someone or something else-,"

            "And you think that now something bad is going to happen to you since it's happened to everyone else you like." finished Remus. 

            "Have I said this before?" asked Lily, tilting her head to one side.

            "More or less." replied Remus.

            "You know, Prongs is going to be disappointed he missed seeing you in your cute little pajamas," said Sirius, wriggling his eyebrows at Lily.

            Lily looked down and realized she forgot to throw on her robe that was on her arm. She blushed as red as her hair and quickly put on her robe, sending Sirius a glare.

            "G'night!" she said promptly and stiffly as she stalked out the portrait hole.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Upstairs in the boy's seventh year dormitory, James was lying in his bed, sleeping. He groaned and rolled over onto his back, his eyes twitching a little.

            Suddenly, he awoke. Reflexively, he sprang up into a sitting position, his eyes wide. He had a dawning look on his face like he had just solved all the world's problems at once.

            "That's it." He breathed out into the empty dorm.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            A/N- another short one, I know. Keep in mind that his is a short fic that is being broken up into even smaller chapters. I hope you like this one. Two more to go, probably.


	3. James' Diabolical Plan

            A/N- this chapter is dedicated to every single one of my fans. I thought it over and I've decided to continue. I think I may have been overreacting about the whole deal. I got about five flamers in my e-mail telling me I sucked and should do everyone a favor and quit writing; I was just really upset. I seriously though I only had like 7 readers or something, so I didn't see a real point to continuing. Then, just like thirty minutes ago, I went to check my e-mail and I almost had a heart attack. There were approximately 50 e-mails in there telling me not to quit! I couldn't believe it. You all are so amazing. I had tears streaming down my face when I read them all. That is truly amazing you guys, thank you so much for lifting my spirits. You are all miracles!

            To my cruel flamers, I really feel sorry that you all have nothing better to do than going around and intentionally hurt other people. Maybe someday, you'll grow up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail! Get up!"

            Sirius yawned, squinting as James opened the curtains to his four poster bed. Moony rubbed his eyes, glaring at James through half opened eyes. Peter snuggled further into his blankets and pillow, ignoring James.

            "James," mumbled Sirius through another yawn, "what the bloody hell are you doing? It's four in the morning."

            James, who was dressed in his school uniform already, was standing in front of the mirror, swung his untied tie around his neck and turned around to look at his friend. He was grinning childishly, a sparkle in his eye. 

            "Get up you lot," repeated James, "I've thought of the perfect plan to make Lily mine."

            Sirius promptly fell back onto his pillow and shut his eyes, "Goodnight, James." He muttered, snuggling into his blankets.

            "Wake us when it's time for class." mumbled Remus, going back to sleep.

            James, without missing a beat, took his wand out and muttered a spell. Suddenly, about five little leprechauns each came to Remus, Sirius, and Peter's bedsides and hoisted themselves onto their beds. Immediately, they started to yell and pull the three boys up.

            "What the hell?" exclaimed Sirius, his eyes as wide as saucers upon seeing five little men dressed in green swearing at him to get up.

            "James, I know I should be commending you for your good charm work, but as it is four o'clock in the morning, all I can say is _get these bloody munchkins off of me!_" shouted Remus crankily.

            "S-small little men biting me!" squealed Peter, sweat running down his face in fear, "SMALL LITTLE MEN BITING ME! AHH! JAMES, HELP!"

            James laughed heartily at his friends' misfortunes, but nonetheless, flicked his wand and vanished the leprechauns. 

            "Oh, good, you're all awake," said James cheerily. "Now get up and get dressed. I've just wasted five minutes on you lot that could have been better spent getting my girl."

            With grunts and groans, the other three dragged themselves out of bed, shooting James glares that could kill. James just smiled cheekily back at them.

            Thirty minutes later, when his friends were all showered and dressed, James had them sit in front of him on his bed. They were still a little cranky, but nevertheless curious.

            "Alright, James, so what's this idea of yours?" inquired Sirius, folding his arms across his chest.

            "My dear friends, my equals…," taking a glance at Peter, he corrected himself, "…most of the time at least…fellow Marauders-,"

            "Just get on with it, James." interrupted Remus. 

            "I have been struck…with an epiphany." finished James.

            Sirius raised an eyebrow and exchanged looks with Remus. Peter scratched his head and asked, "What's that mean?"

            "You know- a divine manifestation…?"

            Peter shrugged his shoulders.

            "…a celestial sign…?"

            Peter shrugged his shoulders.

            "I thought of a good idea, Wormtail." snapped Sirius, getting bored of all of this.

            "Oh," realization dawned on Peter's face.

            "Anyway," cut in James, "last night when I went to bed, I awoke with this brilliant plan. Today's St. Patrick's Day, and Lily _hates_ St. Patrick's Day."

            Remus nodded his head, wondering where this was all leading to.

            "And why does she hate it?" asked James.

            "She thinks the day is cursed."

            "Precisely, Wormtail, precisely. She thinks the whole day is out to get her…and who could blame her. First her dog dies, her parents die, and her friends leave Hogwarts. Well, this year…_nothing_ will happen to her."

            "And you know this for a fact?" asked Sirius. 

            "Well, yes, because we're going to make sure nothing happens to her." answered James.

            "We are?" said Peter.

            "How?" asked Remus.

            "By following her around all day." responded James.

            "_What?_" exclaimed Sirius.

            "You really think Lily would actually let us do that?" said Remus skeptically.

            "Who says Lily has to know about it?" demanded James.

            "Then how is this plan going to help Lily fall in love with you?" shot back Remus. 

            James paused, apparently he had yet to think about that. Then, his face brightened. "I'll tell her at the end of the day…tonight." Seeing their cynical looks, his face crumpled a bit, "Please guys; I really need you to help me."

            Remus rubbed his eyes, thinking this whole thing through. After a few seconds of silence, Sirius said, "Sounds good, mate."

            James grinned.

            "Honestly, I think it's a pretty good idea." admitted Remus, standing up.

            "Me too," squeaked Peter, standing up as well.

            "Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Sirius, striding towards the door. "What do we do first, James?"

            "I think it's time we paid ol' Peeves a visit." replied James.

            A/N- Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked this chapter. Not a lot happened, but the next chapter should be better. Probably only two chapters to go. I want to thank those of you who really touched my heart:

ShadowFox991

Bridget

James' Grl

Velith

starshine87

h-ermione-g-ranger64

J.E.A.R.K.Potter

Chicken Stars

Marisa

Sirius-Sexy-Lady

mossflowermiss    

Jenn

sarcastic spastic

Mayumi-8805

Dee Ann          

Morgan Adams

Manny2003

starshine87     

Black-Rose1212


	4. The Start of Lily's Day

            "**_BOOM!!!_**"

            "Little kiddies sneaking out, there be no doubt, dare I to shout, lest they to pout. Shall I yell, or ring a bell, for this tiny rebel may meet his hell."

            "Peeves," a voice rang out, stopping the continuous rhymes from flowing out of the mischievous ghost's mouth.

            The small poltergeist's face broke out into a wide grin and he started to cackle. "Could it be Hogwarts' own image-breakers, the notorious mischief-makers?"

            James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter threw off the invisibility cloak that had hidden them. "How many times do we have to tell you, Peeves, it's the _'Marauders'_, not 'mischief-makers. And why in heaven's name are you wearing that questionable leprechaun suit." said a semi-irritated Sirius.

            Peeves popped a raspberry at them and said in a snooty tone, "'Tis St. Paddy's Day, it is. What do you want?"

            James grinned, "Peeves, remember the time we covered for you when you filled Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with soap…well, we've come to have the favor returned…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Lily awoke with a gasp, noticing she was in the Head's common room, her book lying on the floor face down, and that she was curled up into a tight ball in one of the most comfortable chairs in the room.

            Then, with a stunned realization, she looked down at herself and let out a hollow, astonished laugh, breathing out, "I'm not dead. I fell asleep…and nothing happened."

            Her face became somber and she whispered, "Yet."

            Getting up, she headed towards her room to shower and dress.

            As she grabbed her robe, Lily noticed a sudden cool air penetrating the once warm atmosphere. She glanced around curiously but spotted nothing out of the ordinary. Shrugging, she walked towards her lavatory, not noticing her robe tie stuck on the end of her trunk. She also didn't notice the trunk lid being lifted and the tie of her robe being set free.

            As she walked into the lavatory, she would have slipped on a bar of soap on the ground, no doubt being carelessly dropped there courtesy James. Only, she didn't for the soap had astonishingly moved two inches to the right.

            Then, as quickly as the presence of the cold air came, the warmth of the atmosphere returned.

            ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  


            Remus' muggle watch read 6:03. Sirius was talking to Peter, grumbling about James' newfound ability of annoyance. 

            "You see, Peter, it's all about psychology. After two whole years of rejection on Lily's part, a part of James' brain…the sane part, that is…decided to pack its bags and fly away to a safer place. That, my friend, is my hypothesis."

            Peter stared at him, a painfully blank expression on his face. "What was that thing you said about photography?"

            Without another word to Peter, Sirius turned his back and walked towards Remus, muttering, "Why do I fool myself into believing I may have an actual fifth grade level conversation with that kid?"

            James was looking around the corner they were near, impatience settling in the pit of his stomach. 

            "Where is he?" said James quietly.

            "Relax James. We don't even know if Lily's awake yet." rationalized Remus.  

            "She wasn't going to sleep, Remus, of course she's awake." said Sirius.

            "You think _Lily_ has the will-power to stay awake all night long? Sirius, she fell asleep on numerous occasions in Flitwick's class, and Charm's is her favorite subject."

            Before Remus had a chance to retort, cackling boomed through the large corridor.

            "Finally," murmured James.

            "Ist thou troublesome fawn getting a wee bit on the edgy side?" wondered Peeves, changing from his invisible appearance to visible right before their very eyes.

            "Never mind, anyway, did you do it?" asked Remus.

            "Aye, captain loony loopy Lupin, I did." answered Peeves, bouncing around in the air.

            James smiled widely, "Excellent. Nice work Peeves."

            "Anything for me best allies." replied Peeves, taking off the leprechaun hat from his head and putting it over his heart while saluting. 

            "You remember the rest of the plan, don't you?" asked Sirius.

            "But of course. Now, if ye be excusing me, I'm off to pinch Moaning Myrtle. After all, the lass has but only grey, drab robes about her." answered Peeves, taking off down the corridor.

            The four guys looked back and forth at one another when James broke the silence, "Alright, everyone know their jobs?"

            "She and I both have Charms and Arithmacy together." said Remus.

            "I have her during the break between 10:00-12:00 and Care of Magical Creatures." said Sirius. 

            "I have Herbology with her." said Peter.

            "I have Astronomy tonight with her and we all, except Peter who has Double Divination instead, have Transfiguration and Potions with her." said James, nodding. "Right then, why don't we go on to the Head's common room and walk with her to Potions."

            "See you later, Peter." called out Sirius as the four separate. 

            "So, you really don't think she'll suspect something?" asked Remus, skeptically.

            "Don't worry, Moony. I know what I'm doing. I know Lily; everything will be fine." said James right as they approached the portrait of a unicorn, where he said clearly, "Quaffle." The portrait opened and the three of them walked in. 

            Lily was just walking out of her lavatory, dressed in green robes. (Every year, the teachers taught the children how to charm their usual black robes into green ones. Though, every year some select students would come up with a way to change them different colors other than green. There was a rumor going around school that the Hogwarts' administration was going to do away with this tradition if that behavior didn't stop.)

            She looked up when she heard the portrait hole open up. "What are you three doing here?" asked Lily.

            James checked his watch. It read 6:45. Fifteen minutes till the start of breakfast in the Great Hall. Perfect. "We came to escort you to the Great Hall, of course." he said with a grin.

            Lily's face turned to one of suspicion. "Why?" said asked.

            "Do we need a reason to walk with our favorite Gryffindor seventh girl down to the Great Hall?" said Sirius, in his own charming way.

            Lily simply raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Alright," all the while thinking that this may be a trick, the horrible occurrence on this St. Patrick's Day.

            So, they walked off to Potions.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Seriously, Adrian, if yeh don' help me with this, I'm goin' to chop of that hair of yers an' boil it in th' stew!!!!!!!" exclaimed Lily, chopping up some frog's feet and putting them in the steaming cauldron in front of the two girls.

            Adrian scowled at Lily and said, "That's disgusting." She pointed to the frog's feet.

            "Duh!" said Lily, "You think I enjoy doing this?" she asked, calming down a bit. "Now chop some of those eels."

            Adrian rolled her eyes and started to chop, making girly revolted noises. 

            All this James heard from his table one to the right and one ahead of Lily's. Sirius was one table behind Lily's and working with his partner, his cousin, Bellatrix Black. Remus was to the left of Sirius' table, working diligently on his potion with his partner, Trisha.

            "Stop daydreaming, Potter, and help me out with the potion." snapped a voice behind him.

            James sighed and turned to his own lab partner, Severus Snape, formally known as Snivellus to the Marauders. 

            Without a word to him, James began to do the same thing Lily was doing and chopped up some legs. Somehow, though, his focus was again turned back behind him to his friends and Lily. His eyes widened at a dangerous sight.

            Sirius and Remus in a heated discussion (from the way Sirius' hands were flailing about, James could only assume the topic at hand was Quidditch), oblivious to anything around them.  That wasn't what James was staring at, though. 

            Bellatrix's face had that sinister look she was infamous around Hogwarts for. She had her wand out and was pointing it towards Lily's cauldron. The sound of Snape's angry voice didn't penetrate through James' thoughts. All he was worried about was stopping Bellatrix.

            Grinning, and not at all worried, James started to have a loud, and fake, coughing fit. It was loud enough to break through Moony and Padfoot's conversation, for they both turned and looked at him. James jerked his head towards the unperturbed Bella.

            Sirius looked over at grinned widely as he did not miss a beat to take out his own wand and mutter a curse himself. Bellatrix broke off her muttering when she felt something different about her hair. She screamed, causing every single occupant in the room, except for Snape, to look up and start laughing at her head full of hissing snakes.

            She ran out of the room, screaming, leaving Sirius to pound the table in fits of laughter. Lily looked astonished, giving Sirius a reprimanding look, but only half-heartedly. She never did get along well with Sirius' cousin, and probably never would. Their teacher gave Snape a detention, fighting off a smile.

            James, from his spot in the room, was clutching his stomach that had begun to ache with all the laughter emitting from his mouth. Suddenly, he heard Snape's rage-filled voice exclaim behind him, "POTTER!!!!!!!!!" right before a small explosion erupted from within their cauldron, pouring the green, 4-leaf clover draught all over the two. As if Bella's curls of snakes weren't enough to entertain the Potion's students, the sight of the notorious James Potter and unpopular Severus Snape covered in growing clovers sent them over the edge, this time, the teacher could not keep a straight face.

            "I TOLD YOU TO ADD THE FROG'S LEGS THRITY SECONDS AGO!!!!" shouted Snape amidst the laughter of the students.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N- another chapter should be out shortly. Thanks for reading and hopefully reviewing. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!!!!!!!


	5. The History of Lily's Fortune

Disclaimer: I almost forgot about putting one of these up. Ok, I don't own anything anyone might recognize. Anything you do, though, is mine. Characters all belong to J.K. Rowling except for the occasional OC you may find hidden around here.

* * *

Ignoring students' jeers and snickers directed at him, James pulled Remus and Sirius out of Potions. Lily had left before them, so James struggled to keep a safe distance behind. The three were now far enough back from Lily to not be considered her personal stalkers, but close enough to keep an eye out just incase anything _weird_ happened.  
  
Sirius was looking longingly at the all-too-peaceful students around him. To him, they looked like they were just _waiting_ to be pranked. They passed one girl who, in Sirius' opinion, could've used a different hair color. Slowly, his hand inched its way into his robes, yearning to wrap his fingers around his trusted wand. The sound of James' voice brought him out of his desirous thoughts, though.  
  
"Ow, Moony would you be careful," James snapped.  
  
"How else am I to get them out, James?" Remus asked, a few clovers in his hand that he had just pulled off of James' arm. "They're _stuck_ in your skin; I have to pick them."  
  
"Could you at least pull a little less hard?" came the irritable response.  
  
Remus didn't answer, continuing with the clovers. Sirius went back to observing possible prank victims. He let out a pitiful moan, watching a kid with rather large ears walking by. They could be so much bigger!  
  
Turning back to look at James, Sirius whined, "James...can't I just prank _one _person?"  
  
James snapped his head around to Sirius, his expression one of annoyance and irritation, "Sirius, will you stop griping! You have all the time in the world to prank! Let's just get to class; Lily's already way ahead of us, and I don't want to loose sight of her."  
  
James grabbed Sirius' sleeve with one clover-filled hand, and the other he grabbed Remus, dragging them even faster to keep up with Lily's steady pace.  
  
Sirius exchanged looks with Remus and muttered, "It's gonna be a bloody long day."

* * *

And a bloody long day it was. By the time everyone had reached their final class of the day, the Marauders were still smarting from their important little escapades dealing with Lily.  
  
In Transfiguration, McGonagall had made everyone conjure up, of all things, chandeliers, on the roof of her classroom. Her roof had been altered, now having a large amount of spare room for all eighteen new additions of chandeliers.  
  
Right after Preston Byron, a rather smart-arse Ravenclaw in their year, had conjured up a rather ostentatious, and very large, looking chandelier, it had been Lily's turn. Walking to the center of the room, receiving the attention of every occupant in there, Lily confidently raised her wand towards the ceiling and opened her mouth to clearly cry out the correct spell...Apparently, Fate had other plans.  
  
James was the one to notice. Right before Lily could even get the first syllable out, Preston's large chandelier started to fall, the poorly attempted spell wearing off. And it started to fall right where Lily was standing, oblivious to anything out of the ordinary.  
  
Without hesitation, James tore out of his place in the crowd and raced towards Lily, pushing her out of the way milliseconds before the chandelier could crush her.  
  
In Charms, Remus paired up with her instantly upon request of Flitwick to find partners. Nothing too extravagant had happened in that class. Though, the girl sitting next to Lily, a Hufflepuff named Dana Chilmark, had managed to start her parchment on fire. Parchment that was dangerously close to Lily's long hair. Fortunately, Remus had quickly produced the water spell from his wand before the fire got too big.  
  
During her break, Sirius stuck close by her, to the great annoyance of Lily. He made sure to invite himself along on a walk she took around the lake. He also hooked her in to playing a thrilling game of Exploding Snap...and even he could not prevent Lily singeing both her eyebrows.  
  
At lunch, Lily was beginning to grow rather irritated at the Marauders. She knew they meant well by apparently wanting to suddenly befriend her, but honestly, they just didn't seem to leave her alone. While Lily was trying to enjoy her potato salad, all four pairs of eyes were on her. While Lily was trying to savor her chocolate éclair, the penetrating gazes of the four mischief-makers prohibited that.  
  
After lunch had ended, Lily all but shot out of her seat, making a mad dash towards Greenhouse 4C, where her Herbology lesson was to begin. She thought herself mighty auspicious when she realized that, from the Marauder group, only Pettigrew attending that class with her...and Pettigrew wasn't a worry. Regrettably, her happiness of this was short lived when she was attacked by the bloody Seditiosus Clovers they were tending to that day. Unbeknownst to her, Herbology was Peter's best class, and he had successfully tamed the vicious clovers before any real damage was done. As it turned out, Peter was awarded twenty points for his great skills of plants. Though, that didn't bring any joy to him, seeing as he had passed out after the fear of the attack.  
  
In Arithmacy, Remus succeeded in stopping Lily's wobbly chair from toppling out from under her. Unfortunately, the spell Remus used to fix Lily's chair decided to take a mind of its own and bounce right back from her chair to his and crumpled it up. He has a bruised bum and head as a souvenir.  
  
In Care of Magical Creatures...well, that in itself is a story all its own. Let's just say that their professor decided to introduce some very interesting new creatures that day- and they happened to absolutely _love_ the color red...the exact shade of Lily's, in fact. (Sirius escaped from that adventure with a black eye, sadly)  
  
The day, it seemed, had not called for Peeves at all, other than the incident that morning with Lily and the bathroom. Sirius dismissed this with a pout and a snort, muttering about "lousy, rotten, paranormal, psycho..."  
  
After all that, all the Marauders had left to say was simply this:  
  
"Lily Evans takes way too many bloody classes."

* * *

Lily's POV  
  
St. Patrick's Day was nearing an end. Lily was joyous, as well as the exhausted boys. All that was left was Astronomy, and only James had that with her. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were off the hook.  
  
Lily was just retrieving her Astronomy textbook and her telescope from her dormitory in the Head's tower and walked down the hall towards the common room. With the way things were working that day, she half expected to find James waiting for her. And, alas, she was correct in her assumption, for there was James, sitting on the plush couch in front of the cackling fire.  
  
_'Wha' on earth has gotten into these boys today?'_ she inwardly wondered.  
  
Sensing her presence, James turned his head around to look over the couch at her. With a genuine grin, he stood up, and Lily noticed he held a textbook and telescope as well.  
  
"Hi," he said, "I was waiting for you."  
  
Lily tilted her head, speaking her thoughts, "Why?"  
  
It appeared as though James had not taken into account she would ask that, for he looked a bit flustered, "Erm, well, I..." a confident smile overtook his nervous expression, and he paraphrased the words his best friend used back that same morning, "Do I need a reason to walk my favorite seventh year girl to her Astronomy class?"  
  
Lily quirked an eyebrow, she replied softly, "No, but-,"  
  
"Well, it's settled then," James interrupted, seizing Lily right hand with his own and gently pulled her to the portrait hole. Lily was too surprised to yank her hand away from his, for when he had taken her hand, a spark went through her entire arm.  
  
That spark had ignited a sudden interest in James that Lily had been certain she would _never_ feel for him. She turned her head to glance at him. The corridors were dark being as it was so late, around eleven o'clock, so Lily had only the moonlight to illuminate the boy's face for her. She had yet to pull out of James' hand grip, finding it warm and welcoming.  
  
As though feeling her gaze on him, he turned his head to look at her. She blushed and looked away. She didn't notice his grin as he just turned his attention back to their destination.

* * *

"...Alright everyone, so if you would just start you work, you may leave one you spot all the constellations on your list," their Astronomy teacher, Professor Solstice, concluded in her presentation.  
  
The entire Astronomy class gathered their telescopes and their parchment, and scattered around to various locations by the numerous opened windows. They gazed at the starry night above them, most taking for granite the simple pleasures in life, like the twinkling of a simple star.  
  
Lily situated herself on the hard ground farther away and higher up from the rest of the class. She started to stare up at the sky, eager to finish the worksheet and leave. She was so tired right now the only thing she could think of was just jumping into her nice comfy bed in her dorm and ending this horrible day.  
  
She was just making the constellation Lyra off her parchment when she felt a presence beside her. She looked over and saw James sit down next to her...  
  
...and she found herself not minding so much anymore.  
  
He smiled at her and said, "Got any yet?"  
  
Lily smiled as well, "I've only gotten one. How about you?"  
  
"Just starting now," James answered, looking up at the starts. They worked in silence for a while. Lily had only one more constellation to find when James cleared his throat beside her. Looking up, she saw him stare at her, not looking as mischievous as usual.  
  
"Lily," he said softly, "I've got something I wanted to tell you for a while now."  
  
"Before you start," Lily spoke up, for some reason eager to know the answer to her unsaid question, "I'm a little curious to know why you four _Marauders_," she said the nickname a little affectionately, "have been following me around all day."  
  
James smiled easily, "I would have thought it'd be obvious by now..."  
  
Lily just stared at him in the moonlight, her head tilted curiously.  
  
"...we were trying to protect you from St. Patrick's Day had its curse," James answered, his eyes twinkling.  
  
James was bracing himself for the verbal beating (in that cute accent of Lily's) of a lifetime from her after he had confessed his plan. What he wasn't expecting, though, was a trickle of giggles flowing out of Lily's mouth. Brows furrowed, he asked, "What's so funny?"  
  
Lily said through her quiet laughs, "You four."  
  
"What about us?" James defensively demanded.  
  
Lily managed to control her chuckles and said, "No, no it's nothin' bad...you see, I though' my...misfortune...for t'day was all the attention I had been gettin' from you four mischief-makers. As horrible as it sounds- now that you've told me wha' you're original plan was- all this time I was thinkin' that _this_ was the adversity Fate had in store for me today.  
  
"Ironic, isn' it, to find out that my bad luck had only been tryin' to keep _more_ bad luck away from me?" she asked James.  
  
James' eyes were wide as saucers after hearing Lily's statement.  
  
"You mean...you thought we were the bad luck today?" he asked, a bit hurt.  
  
Lily immediately sobered, "Well...yes," she quickly went on, "Bu' now that you've told me what was really going on, I find it...incredibly sweet."  
  
James snapped his eyes up to meet hers, "You do?" he asked.  
  
Lily nodded, looking at her hands, "Yes...no one has ever been so thoughtful towards me...I guess, I'm just taken aback that you and your friends were kind enough to think of somethin' so sweet.  
  
"Though, I have to ask, why did you do it?"  
  
If Lily were thinking logically, she would have already known the answer to her question. After all, it wasn't some mysterious secret that James Potter had been infatuated with Lily for a few years now, in fact, the whole school practically knows about it. But at that moment, Lily was so intent on hearing James' answer that she had pushed all rational thoughts aside.  
  
This question momentarily stunned James. "Well, I guess that question will lead us back to what I was going to tell you earlier," he said. Clearly his throat nervously, he went on, "I...I guess I did it because...I-I like you...a lot..."  
  
Lily's heart had virtually burst with happiness hearing James' stuttered sentence.  
  
"I know that you probably don't like me that way, after all, I've been chasing you around for so many years, but-," James babbled speech was cut short when Lily's mouth seized his gently.  
  
Forcing aside his astonishment that Lily Evans, _the_ Lily Evans, was kissing him- on the mouth- intentionally, mind you- James deepened it, running his hand through her soft locks. Finally, after a few moments, they pulled back breathlessly.  
  
Lily's eyes were shining brightly and she said to the blissful James, "James?"  
  
He pulled himself out of his ecstasy and looked over at her.  
  
She took his hand in hers and said, "This St. Patrick's Day is different than the rest...I think my "curse" is broken..."  
  
James continued to stare at her, love in his eyes.  
  
A smile was starting to creep onto her face again as she spoke, "I think you're my Prince Charming that had come to break my spell."

* * *

AN- And that's a wrap. Sorry it isn't the greatest, but I was hurrying through this story. I felt so guilty about leaving it alone for so long that I just wanted to get the chapter out and decided to end it there.  
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed for this short little ficcy of mine. Any other feedback is welcome. I am curious as to what your thoughts are about the romance part of the story. Do you think it was too rushed at the end, having Lily start to romantically like James?  
  
I await your reviews! 


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